


The Black Library

by OwlFlight



Series: The Black Library [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Dark is not Evil, Darth Moeder, Darth Vex, Gen, Good Is Not Stupid, M/M, Prompt Responses, Sith Librarian, The Author Regrets Everything, The Author Regrets Nothing, The Black Library, The Sith REALLY Don't Like Dooku
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-16
Updated: 2017-08-25
Packaged: 2018-05-14 05:17:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 3,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5730841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OwlFlight/pseuds/OwlFlight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of prompt-fics featuring Darth Vex, aka Obi-Wan Kenobi, a proud Sith Librarian of the Black Library, and assorted other characters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Darth Moeder

Anonymous asked: Secret Sith Lady - or maybe neutral-but-powerful Force User - Shmi leaving Tattooine now that she doesn't have to worry about Anakin getting blown up if she tries to leave, and trying to track down Anakin and finding Padme... and then her and Padme kicking total ass in the process of saving Anakin from dooku or whoever 

 

 

“Where is my son.”

The Geonosian spits at her, keratin wings and spindly legs thrashing wildly against the Force-grip pinning it in place. It screams threats. Tells her it will kill her in the most wretched manner possible and then defile her corpse. Whines about the superiority of its kind and the disgusting, worthless, inefficient structure of hers.

It’s laughable. Shmi tightens her grip, face emotionless as she watches it writhe.

She sent her son with the Jedi to keep him safe, to free him from slavery, to have a good life, a free life. Away from her, and the secrets she nestles in her soul, that she sought so hard to keep from him. But the screams of her child haunt her every sleeping hour, and her dreams have the taste of prophecy. She heard his cries, a thousand thousand light-years distant. She saw him die.

Shmi is his mother.

“Where is my son?” Keratin bends. Cracks.

And the Geonosian spits a name. “Tyrannus has him!”

Tyrannus.

Lord Tyrannus.

Count Dooku?

Dooku was a Jedi.

He will fight as a Jedi. He was trained at such. And he will die if he faces her. This Shmi knows with the certainty of foresight.

Shmi was trained once. By a Master who fancied himself her owner. Who saw - something in her. Her lessons were learned in blood and pain and vomit, at the feet of a Sith Lord who titled himself Darth Plageius and who, smiling, dubbed her his apprentice. His secret apprentice. ‘The One In The Shadows’, that was his favorite nickname for her. ‘The One Who Waits’. She’d done the impossible when she escaped him - her, and the fragile life growing inside of her.

Shmi was trained by a Dark Lord of the Sith, who delighted in teaching her exactly how to dismember a Jedi in five moves or less. She’d practiced.

Tyrannus has chained her child in the middle of an arena and left him to die for his amusement.

A Master had once named her Darth Moeder.

Shmi goes to save her son.


	2. Darth Vex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> darthrevaan asked: Prompt: “Ignore every instinct to flee. Remember: you are a monster too.”

_Dooku?_

The thought is _insulting_. Tyrannus? That _joke_ of a Sith Lord? The man is one of the most idiotic individuals Obi-Wan Kenobi has ever had the misfortune of meeting - and considering his life and his travels, that actually says quite a lot. The man was actually insane enough to agree to Sidious’s offer to teach him - Vex, personally, had been dragged, kicking and screaming, to the Sith Lord’s feet as Palpatine _forced_ the Master-Apprentice bond upon him. 

Dooku - he could not, would not, call that man Tyrannus - was insane enough to think he could make the Darkness do whatever he told it to. The Jedi - for such he was, and such Vex will continue to call him - has neither the strength to do so or the wisdom to understand that the Darkness _can not be controlled._

At least, not like that.

But the man is currently directly responsible for the three ship’s worth of mercenaries disgorged onto the plain in front of the entrance to _his_ Library. And their hacked transmissions reveal that it is indeed Count Dooku of Serenno, Dooku of the Separatist party, who is paying them an ungodly amount of money to burn the Black Library to the ground (joke’s on them, of course, it’s underground) and kill whoever is inside.

…while broadcasting the entire event, of course, to make clear the penalty for having a fellow Sith tell him to, let’s see - “Go fuck yourself, you idiotic ass.”

Upon reflection, Obi-Wan probably shouldn’t have responded to the ‘Sith Lord’s’ (hah!) offer by buying out headlines for one of the galaxy’s most well-read news stations. But it _had_ been extremely amusing.

Count Dooku of Serenno has brought hired mercenaries to his front door. Is threatening to destroy his life’s work. Oh, and kill him. Vex, quite honestly, would probably be less upset if only the last order had been issued.

But these are his people, and this is is his home.

Vex has actually put a great deal of effort into appearing harmless. Has pestered the Jedi with legal action, has invited scholars and fellow-minded archivists into his library. Had put up with Anakin (yes, all right, so the Knight is rather cute - not to mention Shmi would _disembowel_ him if he ever hurt the boy) pestering him at all hours of the day and night and dragging him into one crazy mission after another. He’s regarded as sharp-edged and mildly eccentric - but, most importantly, not a threat.

Lightening crackles at his fingertips. Darkness wraps around him as armor and armament both as he strides towards the sunlit opening. His battle hydras have already been unleashed upon the foolish, foolish mercenaries who thought they could kill a Sith Lord in the very heart of his power - dispassionately, he feels each death, preceded as it is by a moment of screaming, soul-deep fear. The sensation does not please him, but neither is it unwelcome.

He is Darth Vex, Dark Lord of the Sith.

Not a threat?

That which lives in the Darkness is terrified of _him._


	3. Reactions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> itsageneticpredisposition asked: I would like to offer some prompts, if you would like one or two? In the change!verse, how obvious is it that Obi-wan is different? Outside the temple, does he hide and how successfully? Alternatively, in the Black Library verse, how does the council justify not attacking Darth Vex after he tears into a pack of mercenaries on streamed video? Please let Vex retaliate by letting Snowball and Shmi into Dooku's lair, and watching Anakin's 'rescue'. Or Vex lets them into the temple, just for fun.

Sometimes, Anakin really _appreciated_ Darth Vex.

(It was a terribly un-Jedi-like thought, and Obi-Wan himself would have been the first to snarl that he was not nice and _how dare you, Jedi!_ Before throwing something large and heavy at Anakin’s head. Not one of his books, of course - Anakin had several carefully-preserved memories of Darth Vex looking frantically around for something _to_ throw at him.)

“He didn’t break any laws.”

“What?! He _decimated_ three shipload’s worth of battle droids and mercenaries. Slaughtered to the last man!” Anakin watched the High Council debate, careful to keep his expression scrupulously bland. Technically, he was only an observer - and while other circumstances would have left him raging at how he was being deliberately overlooked, present circumstances made it an ideal position.

Hopefully, the mouse droids were getting clear footage. He needed to be able to download a copy of the session. You didn’t get to see the High Jedi Council run around like headless chickens every day.

“Three ship’s worth of highly trained murderers who came at him with the clear and _deliberate_ intention to kill him! The law is clear.” Adi Gallia snapped back at a fellow Counselor. “Every action he took falls under the heading of self-defense - and thanks to the fact that they were broadcasting the assault, the entire Galaxy is aware of it! He even included a copy of their orders in the datapacket he sent to the _Galactic News. As well as_ citing chapter and verse of the legal code that justifies his actions as _self-defense.”_

“He electrocuted men alive! His - his _abominations_ to the Living Force tore them limb from limb! He hurled a levinbolt that brought down a ship in _orbit!“_

A Master Anakin knew from sight alone glared. “ _Must_ you continue to repeat what we already know?! The question is - ” and here his gaze switched to Mace Windu, who was cradling his head in his hands. “ - what will we do about it? The Sith - “

“We can do _nothing_.” Master Windu interjected, finally looking up. “Darth Vex has received a _massive_ outpouring of public support ever since the holo aired. The Republic is _tired_ of senseless battle and the slow progress of the Sieges. Darth Vex provided them with the spectacle of a quick, decisive victory against the enemy that has destroyed their homes, killed their families, and threatened the very fundamental principles on which this democracy is based. His follow-up remarks to Count Dooku went viral in less then five minutes after the broadcast went out. Any attempt by the Jedi Order to take him into custody - aside from the fact that he has technically broken no laws - would result in a _massive_ public relations disaster.”

“There’s also the fact that he’s suing us.” Plo Koon interjected glumly. “Again.” Barely-muffled groans echoed around the small room.

“What’s this one about?”

“He’s claiming that since Dooku was trained by the Jedi and is _obviously_ using the skills that we taught him to murder, assault, and otherwise negatively impact sentients that we’re responsible for his actions, in the sense that he _clearly_ has some kind of mental derangement and we were negligent in the extreme to offer him training - “

Sometimes Anakin _really really loved_ Darth Vex.


	4. Fitting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: Shimi find vex and anakin in a compromising position and starts talking about marriage.

“ _For the last time.”_ Obi-Wan growled, glaring at his fellow Sith - really, the only other one he could stand. “It was an accident!” The redhead would have thrown his arms into the air as punctuation - except he was currently being hastily fitted for elaborate black-on-black robes of soft ebony cloth and intricate embroidered patterns.

…he might have actually liked the outfit under any other circumstances. “Anakin was helping me re-shelve Lord Syn’s _Compendium of War-Alchemy_!” (All thirty-two volumes of it; the Sith Lord had enjoyed the expression on the Jedi’s face when he realized what kind of labor would result from his absent offer to ‘help out’) “He tripped and fell off the ladder! _On top of me!_ There was _nothing_ sexual about it!”

Shmi glanced up at him, absently pulling a pin from the sewing kit as her side as she guided it into place. Vex eyed the sharp metal needles warily. “The fact remains.” The older Sith said sweetly as she thrust the pin home. “My son was on top of you. And the two of your were groaning. Quite heavily. I also seem to recall that _your_ hands, Lord Vex, were - in a somewhat compromising position.”

“That was - “

“ _On my son’s ass._ ” Shmi’s gaze sharpened. Obi-Wan was wise enough to keep his mouth _shut_ in the face of her suddenly dangerous expression.

Shmi twirled a pin between her fingers meditatively; Vex’s eyes followed it, helplessly drawn by the flash of light on burnished steel. 

It really _had_ been an accident, Darth Vex groused silently as Darth Moeder continued fitting his wedding robes.


	5. Arena

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More Darth Moeder, and a direct follow-up to Chapter One.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the-dragongirl asked:
> 
> Prompt: black library verse, the first time Anakin witnesses Shmi killing something with extreme prejudice.

It’s a dream.

But it’s a good dream, Anakin thinks blearily to himself, eyes barely tracking. The Geonosians hadn’t bothered to go easy on him - the fact that he was the infamous Master Jinn’s padawan, and thus the grand-padawan of Count Dooku himself was probably the only thing that stopped them from killing him outright.

Instead, he’d been chained ( _and something in him writhed and howled no chains no no no I will not be chained again_ ) and left out in the middle of an arena to die. The sole comfort he’d had as broken bones grated and clashed against each other was that he was alone - Master Qui-Gon was elsewhere (even Dooku wasn’t so far gone as to kill his own student - at least not yet) and Padme, perfect Padme, was safely on her way to the Jedi Temple, the message of Dooku’s Fall flying with her.

It is a dream, but he cannot help but lean into the calloused hands that cup his face, smiling vaguely as his mother - it cannot be his mother, his mother is light-years distant, is chained much as he is now - brushes her lips across his forehead. ‘My Ani’ he hears, faint and distant - and his chains are falling to either side, the cuffs carefully peeled from his abused wrists. 

It is only a dream, and so he feels no guilt at hugging her with all the strength he has left, relaxing entirely as a warm hand rubs comforting, familiar circles across his back.

Mother is here, and everything will be all right.

When the Jedi arrive, they find an errant Jedi Padawan in the center of a blood-stained arena. He is smiling in his sleep; a worn, faded robe is tucked carefully around him, and his wounds have been meticulously tended to.

The spectator stands are stocked with corpses.


	6. The Lady Murder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> angelqueen04 asked:
> 
> In regards to the previous prompt where Shmi goes postal on the Geonosians for trying to kill Anakin - what happens when Vex finds out that Dooku tried to have Anakin killed?

“You have a son?” Obi-Wan blinked at his line-Aunt - who, coincidentally, also happened to be the only other Sith Lord he could vaguely tolerate for extended periods of time.

Shmi arched an eyebrow at him. “Yes. I have a son. Anakin. He’s about sixteen standard now and training as a Jedi Padawan.”

Leaving aside the fact that her son was a Jedi - “Lady Murder - “ Darth Vex began.

“Moeder, dear.”

“Yes. My mistake.” (It really wasn’t.) “Why in the seven hells would you give your son to the _Jedi_?” Vex blinked at her in open astonishment. _Instead of training him yourself_ ; the words went unsaid. He would have - well, murdered half the known galaxy to have had Lady Murder as a Master when he was a child.

Granted, pond scum would have made a better Master then Darth Sidious, but it was the principle of the matter.

Shmi’s eyes were a calm, tranquil topaz - the horizon at sunset, rather then the glinting gold that heralded her ire. The older woman smiled gently at her sort-of-kinsman. “Ani wanted to go.” The Sith Lord said simply. “He loved stories of the Jedi.”

“Just that?”

“Just that.”

Fleetingly, it crossed Vex’s mind to wonder about Anakin’s father. Said thought was promptly discarded; there were far safer - and less mentally scarring - issues to focus on. That said, Lady Moeder would probably have taken great pleasure in answering his question. In detail. Until he would really much rather she not, thank you, there were some things he really didn’t want to know about his line-Aunt’s private life… Obi-Wan promptly changed the subject. “You hadn’t seen him for - what, six years? Was it his birthday or something?”

“Or something.” Shmi smoothed a wrinkle from her robes. “Tyrannus had staked him in an arena and left him to die.”

Obi-Wan opened his mouth. Then closed it. 

“I never took him to be actively suicidal.” Darth Vex murmured after a long moment of silence.

Darth Moeder, Dark Lord of the Sith, the Lady Murder and Butcher of Geonosis, smiled at him, and Darkness writhed in her shadow.


	7. The Unwary Researcher

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: Maybe it isn't your thing, but if you are still taking prompts: rule!63 Darth Vex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to LectorEl, for reasons (and an in-joke) that I'm sure they'll understand.

“…and just sign there, beneath the second paragraph down. “ Darth Vex absently licked a finger before turning the page of his most recent acquisition - a book made from actual _paper_. He owned Lady Murder something very nice for that find (regardless of the fact that the woman would claim it was a _favor_ , of all things.)

“…and is that it?” The bedraggled would-be researcher asked, the faintest hint of hope creeping into a voice that had passed beyond numbness and into complete desolation three hundred pages before.

“Nonsense.” Darth Vex didn’t look up from the frankly fascinating treatise written in High Sith. “That merely covers your understanding and acknowledgement of the clauses and sub-clauses of Rule Sixty-Two. If you turn the page, we can commence with Rule Sixty-Three.”

The despairing scream that issued from the hapless fool who had thought to research in _his_ Library only added to the experience of reading Darth Morsus’ _On The General Idiocy of Sith Apprentices and My Proposed Solutions Thereof._


	8. The Butcher

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: Anything with Darth Shmi and Anakin please!

Anakin has never been able to explain exactly what happened on Geonosis.

His last memories on the world are of _sound_ and _blood_ and _pain pain pain PAIN_. His next clear recollection is waking up in Medbay, with its blessed stock of painkillers and bacta, glorious, wonderful bacta. Several appointments with various mindhealers - and a full Council session - only confirm his disjointed account - he’d been tortured and left to die, only to be rescued by an unknown individual.

Who had, apparently, killed almost literally everyone else present at the time. Count Dooku was the noticeably exception - although the man had by all accounts made a running retreat from the so-called Butcher of Geonosis. 

After the official investigation, Anakin - doesn’t forget about the incident. Not really. He’s too busy being declared a Jedi Knight and assigned as the commanding general of the 501st - war occupies the majority of his time, and although the Massacre is important, there are other things that require his attention right now _MOVE Rex get down!_

Except. 

It's a tiny, inconsequential battlefield. Anakin is leading the 501st as they attempt to take the high ground under a barrage of blaster fire - it’s obvious that the Seppies won’t be able to hold out, not for long. He barely even notices when the barrage fades, only takes advantage of the momentary reprieve to shout _charge_ as he leads the assault on the makeshift fortifications.

They leap over the hastily-assembled walls, dashing forward, and -

Everyone is dead.

The regular rank-and-file battle droids have been cleanly dismembered by something that was either very hot or very sharp. The artillery is in literal pieces. The few heavy tanks lying in wait behind the ridge are still smoking; it looks as if their ammunition detonated simultaneously.

The flesh-and-blood bodies of the officers are still warm.

Someone came, without anyone noticing. Killed everything. And then left just as silently as they arrived.

Seven months later, he’s on a battlefield in an entirely different sector when it happens again.


	9. Declaration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: Prompt: The first time Darth Vex told Anakin he loved him?

“Have I mentioned recently that I love you?” Vex’s voice was disturbingly sincere as he stared down at the package Anakin had roughly shoved into his arms. The pure adoration spreading across the Sith Lord‘s face was - offsetting. To put it mildly; Anakin bit back a shiver as those terrible, venom-bright eyes latched onto his face.

“Look -” The Jedi said defensively, a faint glower spreading across his face in sheer self-defense as Darth Vex stared at him. “I was getting a present for Mom - “ a very nice set of ceramic mugs; he’d seen them in a shop window and purchased them on a whim - “ - and you said that you ran out a while ago when the Seps cut off supply lines to Chait, any I was there anyway on campaign, so - “

“So you got me tea.” Why was Darth Vex smiling at him? “Well.” And Anakin bit back a wholly inappropriate whimper of relief when the bright, honest joy on the Sith’s face began to transform back to his usual expression of sardonic amusement. “Well.” Obi-Wan shook his head slightly. “Apparently, I underestimated just how idiotic you are, Jedi - “

“Hey, see if I - “

“Thank you.”

A swirl of black robes, and the Sith was gone.

Anakin lingered for a long moment before following, consumed by the memory of a smile.


	10. Nemesis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darth Vex and his arch-nemesis.

“I go now to confront my worst enemy.” Darth Vex said, face taunt with unreleased tension. His hand curled loosely across his lightsaber in a gesture of self-comfort; Anakin stared, spoon practically dropping from his fist even as Shmi rested her forehead against her palm with a light groan.

“Really, Obi-Wan, must you?” The Butcher of Geonosis complained, an unexpectedly plaintive note in her voice. Anakin’s disbelieving gaze flickered between her mother and the curator of the Black Library; Vex ignored him, answering his line-aunt with a single stiff nod.

“Yes.” The Sith growled, fists clenching.

***

Shmi had pulled him aside after Darth Vex departed in an overly dramatic swirl of black robes, quietly suggesting that he might want to find some excuse - any excuse - to avoid the Jedi Temple for a few days. Just in case. Anakin had, accordingly, taken the first mission available and happily spent the following cycles enmeshed in Courscant’s black market district, tracking an antique ‘cultural artifact’ that a senator had reported as ‘missing’ earlier that week.

He might also have taken the opportunity to catch up on the status of the current illegal swoop-bike races. Just in case. One never knew what knowledge might come in handy later on.

As such, he was one of the lucky ones _not_ to be present when Darth Vex, current curator of the Black Library and Archives, met face-to-face with Jedi Master Joscasta Nu, current caretaker of the Jedi Archives.

Witnesses stated that they were _extremely_ polite to one another.


End file.
